Patriots wrap up bye with shutout of Dolphins

Posted by Josh Alper on December 30, 2012, 7:35 PM EST

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The Patriots weren’t happy with their level of performance in last week’s win over a team from Florida already out of playoff contention so they brought a bit more to the field with them against the Dolphins this Sunday.

New England clicked in all phases of their game and crushed the Dolphins 28-0 to close out the regular season. With the Texans losing to the Colts earlier in the day, the Patriots have secured a bye for the first week of the playoffs and they will host the higher seeded team to advance from the Wild Card game in two weeks.

Everybody got to do a little work for the Pats. Stevan Ridley scored twice, Rob Gronkowski had two catches and a touchdown in his return to the lineup and Wes Welker caught eight passes for 94 yards in his typical day’s work. The offense wasn’t entirely crisp — Tom Brady hit on 22-of-36 passes — but it was more than enough to make the work of the defense stand up for the win.

Ryan Tannehill was picked off once and he botched a handoff with Reggie Bush that became a second turnover inside the Patriots’ 5-yard line. The Patriots also sacked Tannehill seven times, with defensive lineman Justin Francis picking up three of them to lead the team. They are the first three sacks of Francis’ career and it was a strong closing performance from the Patriots defense across the board with the playoffs ahead.

No playoffs await the Dolphins, although they do have copious amounts of cap space and a bit more security on the coaching staff and at quarterback than they’ve enjoyed in recent years. That’s a good place to start building a team that can join or replace the Patriots in the playoffs down the road.

Why is it that the NFL always gives the patroits home field advantage over the Dolphins in December. Not that it would have mattered that much, but they ALWAYS get to play in Miami in September and home in December.

I dont have a favorite team in the playoffs. So I must go to my default. For the AFC, any team against the Pats and Denver. Ive always liked Manning.

NFC, hard to say. No team is really scary on both sides of the ball. So Ill go with the Seahawks. Love their defense and itd be a great story to see them get to the Super Bowl.

Frankly, Ive had enough of the Pats. I respect Bellichick in how he is a great coach and just about always has his team ready and they play consistently well. Even without Brady, whom many give him more credit than Bellichick, they went 11-5. Though I must say, I dont like his attitude and especially how he acted after losing the first Super Bowl against the Giants.

I really dont want another Super Bowl with that Pats in it. Two new teams would be great.

It really kills me. The Patriots really let Tom down a few weeks ago.
With the magnificent comeback and the kickoff return they allowed to prevent Brady from completing one of the best comebacks ever on prime time TV.
It all but ruined his chances at MVP. While manning and Brady’s numbers are similar, brady needed this comeback to solidify himself.
Unfortunately now everyone will jump on manning.

But let’s also not forget that in 08 when manning won his MVP, Tom was out that year with the best team in nfl history from the previous year and the leagues easiest schedule.
So while manning gets crowned for the 5th time, Tom will be back to the dance for a 6th

As a patriot fan, I would like to say that I love that every is already placing the patriots @ Denver for the AFC championship game. There’s still a lot of football left and anything can happen in the playoffs people.

drexelvol says:
Dec 30, 2012 8:09 PM
@tedmurph – Not even close. It’s still pretty hot in NE in September but it’s a far sight colder in NE in December.
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The Sept heat in NE does not compare to the heat and humidity of Miami — ever —

rhodeislandpatriotsfan says:
Dec 30, 2012 7:52 PM
Here’s a New Year’s toast to a Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning AFC championship game.
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I hope they do meet again. After a great game earlier this year, I was wondering if that was the last time these two would meet.
Two future HOF QBs in the playoffs – priceless.

From a Broncos fan:
Congrats to the Pats on securing the 2nd seed.
It no doubt will be Peyton v. Brady in an epic AFC Championship game. The two teams are so close it could certainly go either way, but the winner will win it all.
Manning v. Brady in a huge game. It doesn’t get any better than that.

I dont like his attitude and especially how he acted after losing the first Super Bowl against the Giants.

Brady was 16-0 that season, he was a fluke catch away from a perfect season and his 4th ring. You got a problem with him being disappointed? I don’t recall him doing or saying anything unsportsmanlike.

drexelvol says:
Dec 30, 2012 7:48 PM
“Why is it that the NFL always gives the patroits home field advantage over the Dolphins in December. Not that it would have mattered that much, but they ALWAYS get to play in Miami in September and home in December.

@cannonball,
The Pats played poorly last week. I was glad they kept their foot on the gas. And on their last clock killing drive, TB was handing off and that was all. People need to get over the “little league everyone gets a trophy” thing when it comes to PROFESSIONAL sports.

The Fins do have a pretty good defense as usual. First in the whole NFL in the red zone. As a Pats fan, I’d love to have that on D. They need a few playmakers on O and they could be pretty good. They were missing Pats killer Bess yesterday too.